The growing tensions between the United States and Iraq merely serve to validate the testimony by Scott Ritter a few months ago. As you may remember, he is the former Marine Intelligence officer who worked for UNSCOM and was in charge of destroying Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
A few months ago he testified before Congress that UNSCOM's efforts were continually blocked. That's not too surprising since we have always expected that Saddam Hussein would try to block the inspections. But what was surprising is that Scott Ritter alleged that real frustration came from attempts by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the U.S. National Security Advisor to block inspections. He testified this happened at least seven different times.
Before I go on, let me note the irony here. For years we have heard about attempts by the United Nations to compromise the sovereignty of the United States. But this is the first time that the UN set out to do something and was compromised by the United States!
But the point is this, Saddam Hussein remains a dangerous threat not only to the Middle East, but ultimately to the rest of the world. Attempts by the U.S. to block inspections may have achieved a short term political end by not confronting Saddam Hussein while President Clinton was dealing with a scandal at home. But the long term implications are ominous. Scott Ritter testified that without effective inspections, Saddam Hussein would have nuclear weapons in three years and bacteriological weapons in six months. The clock has already been ticking. We really don't have much time left.
So when you hear talk about military action, just remember that this isn't a new development. Scott Ritter warned us about the threat, and when his superiors wouldn't listen he resigned his post from UNSCOM. Sadly, he isn't the one who should have resigned.
I'm Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that's my opinion.
© 1998 Probe Ministries International